For anyone who has ever worked in retail, this time of year can evoke nightmarish memories. Thanksgiving not only marks a day of family get-togethers and turkey eating, but the eve of Black Friday. During my college years I was a customer service manager at a busy electronics store. While many stayed awake late into the night, I forced myself into bed to prepare for the horror that is Black Friday. With coffee in hand, I’d pull into our store parking lot during the wee hours of the morning to find a mass of customers who had camped out for the evening in hopes of purchasing one of our “while supplies last” door-busters. Seeing over 100 people in line for a laptop that is dirt-cheap after rebates can be a frightening site when you know your inventory only consists of 60 units. I’d quietly push my way indoors, ignoring the shouts from cold shoppers and take a deep breath to prepare for the inevitable onslaught. Like the running of the bulls, customers pushed and shoved their way indoors when the clock struck 4am. By the day’s end, I always felt a bit like I shell-shocked war veteran.

So when asked what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, I’ll quickly answer being free of retail’s icy clutches. As a creative copywriter at our full-service advertising agency, there are no more Thanksgiving Day jitters. When I wake up Friday, I will not have to prepare myself for a slew of angry faces; I will not have to stand for a staggering 18 hours checking out an endless line of shoppers. No, I will sleep in and enjoy myself. Hallelujah!

Unlike my previous place of employment, Dynamic Digital Advertising never runs out of its product, which is quality digital advertising. Our team of degreed professionals offers a vast list of services that include corporate and medical video development, website design, graphic design, custom programming, and more. In fact, our staff of online copywriters is working to create search engine optimized content to drive traffic to newly added services that include mobile advertising, virtual tradeshow displays, and social network development.

To all you brave retail employees, may the force be with you this holiday season. I don’t envy you and am thankful for my employment here at our excellent advertising agency.

This is a very short week, so it is cram time. Yesterday, our video studio was extra busy with ad shoots and a medical video presentation. At the same time, Laurence, our Director of Interactive Media was immersed in quoting new animation and video projects, working with a client on a very complex website, sorting out production chores and tying up loose ends since he is going to be gone for a week.

At our full service advertising agency,  we pride ourselves in the work we do daily. And there is nothing more exciting than to here from a project coordinator, “We’re ready to launch,” or “the optimized content is done, we just need to get client approval.”  We develop projects in tandem with our talented teams, all overseen by a project coordinator so nothing is overlooked. It can be a very intense, detailed, tiring time, but when the project is done, there is that wonderful sense of pride, and then the WOW factor kicks in, and we forget the angst and the worry and the hair pulling.

Working day in and day out these many months has been that way for me. In 2008, I had a lot of angst days, and I did my share of hair pulling, but Thanksgiving is the start of wrapping up the year, and  the WOW factor for me is how incredibly busy we are. Now, Dynamic Digital has to catapult into an exceptional 2009.

I know it’s cliche, and probably being done all over the blogosphere today, but after thinking back to an entry I did a few months ago on my “Pet Peeves,” I figured it was only appropriate to talk about things I’m thankful for. Oh, and it’s Thanksgiving Eve — so that’s another good reason.

DDA’s Talented Staff: Ever since I started here at DDA, I obviously knew that everyone was talented. But as I’ve gotten the hang of things, I am more amazed every day by our talented staff. In just the last week, as we have diligently tried to push through a large and fast-paced website design project, I have counted on our programmers, graphic designers, animators, video specialists, and do-it-allers (that would be Mick) to get things done. With a simple email or phone call, things get done and the project stays on track. Whether it’s a typo, a broken link, or a late addition or revision (and there have been many with this project), everything is handled quickly and seamlessly. And Crystal is nice enough to handle the 56th batch of changes without yelling at me.

Digital Video Recorders: One of the greatest inventions this side of Google and the Nintendo Wii. Remember how great we all thought VCR-Plus was? What, you don’t remember the codes that matched your TV Guide so you could tape your favorite shows? Yeah, DVR is way better than that.Required viewing for this weekend currently stored on my DVR: “24: Redemption”, “Entourage”, and “Gossip Girl” (go ahead, laugh).

Kind and Cooperative Clients: With any new client, there is, of course, a feeling-out period on both ends. But as we get deep into a project, it is very helpful to have a client who at least partially understands all the hard work going into their project, and the way we do things here at DDA. And while we don’t seek testimonials or awards, it makes things just a little bit easier when a client takes a moment to let us know that he or she genuinely appreciates our work and thinks we’re doing a great job.

Car Radios: Simple, right? Well, I’ve driven my grandfather around a few times in the last month, and he hates listening to the radio in the car (plus, he’s not much of a small-talker). And since it’s his car, I turn it off. Boy, is it boring to drive in silence. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life.

Our Four-Day Week: I have talked about this before, and so has everyone else around here. But our compressed Monday-Thursday workweek is great not only for productivity in the office, but enjoyment outside of it (not to mention its Green impact!). The only thing better than a four-day week? A four-day holiday weekEND!

The World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies: You didn’t really think I’d leave them off this list, did you?

Our Insanely Large and Detailed Website: I consider myself an avid Internet user, but I have never seen a site as deep, large, and detailed as our main site at www.zeroonezero.com. It has everything you need to know about our wide array of services, and it allows us to attract enough clients that we don’t need a dedicated sales crew. The site is always growing, and always attracting new business, which is what allows me to have a job, for which I am thankful.

My Dog, Abby: She just makes me happy (except when she wants to go outside at 2:30 a.m., but I’ll let it slide today).

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!